Norwegian Air will use 787-9s on four new U.S. routes next year. (Image: Norwegian)

Fast-growing, low-cost European carrier Norwegian just announced four more new U.S. routes coming in 2018, leading some to wonder if the ambitious airline is growing too fast for its own good.

The company’s latest plans include new service from Los Angeles to Milan Malpensa starting June 16; and from LAX to Madrid beginning July 15. It will operate four flights a week on both routes. From New York JFK, Norwegian will operate new service to Amsterdam starting May 7, with four weekly flights; and to Madrid July 18, with three flights a week. All the new routes will be served with 787-9s.

No-frills fare, high fee fares from LAX will start at $229 one-way, while New York fares will begin at $199 to Amsterdam and $229 to Madrid. Premium cabin fares start at $729 and $739 from LAX to Madrid and Milan respectively, and at $619/$649 to Amsterdam and Madrid from JFK.

These four routes are just a part of new Norwegian service already announced for 2018. Other new routes and starting dates include Oakland to Rome (February 6); Newark to Paris (February 28); Chicago to London (March 25); Austin to London (March 27); Denver to Paris (April 9); Oakland to Paris (April 10), and Boston to Paris (May 2);

Norwegian’s current and upcoming U.S. routes. (Image: Norwegian)

All that is on top of 25 U.S. routes that the carrier inaugurated in 2017. And look for more new service in the months ahead: Norwegian said it has just acquired another 28 weekly takeoff and landing slots at London Gatwick, available starting next summer. “Planning work is now underway to allocate the newly acquired slots, and will be announced at a later stage,” the company said.

This explosive growth is leading some investors in the company to worry that the airline might be overextending itself, considering its financial performance. A recent analysis in the Financial Times noted that Norwegian’s fleet is adding 32 aircraft in 2017, for a total of 145; and will keep growing to 193 planes by the end of 2019. The report said Norwegian had a second-quarter operating loss of $104 million, while its unit costs rose by 6 percent in the third quarter. The company’s share price has plunged 40 percent this year, the report said, while its European competitors’ stock has been rising sharply.

One analyst quoted in the article said Norwegian has new aircraft coming online so fast that it can’t absorb them all, so it has started leasing some to other companies and selling older ones. It also quoted a senior banker in Norway as saying that Norwegian is “in trouble. They are over-extended and it’s clear that they have to do something.”

Have you flown Norwegian…or benefitted from its impact on transatlantic fares this year? Please discuss.

No sign of a Trump Slump yet in international visitor arrivals to the U.S. (Image: Jim Glab)

The U.S. travel industry has been predicting a “Trump slump” – i.e., a drop-off in foreign visitors due to the Administration’s tougher entry policies – and terrorist events in Europe were also expected to inhibit international travel. But so far, none of that seems to be happening.

U.S. travel officials expected to see evidence of the so-called Trump slump starting in April, following the Administration’s attempts – subsequently thwarted by the courts – to ban arrivals from several Muslim-majority countries and to generally impose “extreme vetting” on foreign arrivals.

But the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) said this week that instead of dropping, the number of foreign visitors to the U.S. actually increased in April by 4 percent over the same month a year ago.

USTA president Roger Dow admitted that the organization is “surprised” by that increase, citing it as ”evidence of the U.S. travel sector’s remarkable resilience.” Still, he urged the Trump Administration to make it clear that foreign visitors are still welcome.

“Even though we’re encouraged by these strong figures, we’ll continue to urge the administration to more publicly send the message that while the U.S. is closed to terror, it remains open for business,” Dow said. “We should not take it for granted that this trend will sustain, and the 15.3 million American jobs that depend on travel are not worth putting at risk. A simple and clear welcome message will go a long way in that regard.”

That rise in international arrivals did not hold true in all markets. April arrivals from the U.K. were down 6 percent – and that was well before the latest flap between Trump and London’s mayor. The U.S. ban on in-cabin laptops on flights from the Middle East and North Africa is also likely hurting traveler numbers in those markets, as evidenced by Emirates’ recent decision to scale back flight frequencies to the U.S.

The travel industry news website Skift.com reported a similar finding from the annual meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – the leading global airline trade organization — this week in Cancun. Skift interviewed airline CEOs from Europe and Latin America and found no indications of a Trump slump in their traffic to the U.S.

Bloomberg News was also at the IATA conference, and its interviews with the chiefs of International Airlines Group (parent of British Airways and Iberia) and Lufthansa likewise found no evidence that that the latest terror attacks in Europe were having a negative impact on inbound traffic. Similar events in previous years were usually followed by a fall-off in visitors.

“It would be terrible if people start just considering that this is routine or normal, but we haven’t seen an impact on bookings,” IAG CEO Willie Walsh told Bloomberg News. “In the past, we would expect it to have some impact, but we haven’t seen anything.”

We mentioned recently that Thomas Cook Airlines will begin San Francisco-Manchester, U.K. service this spring. But it’s also planning lots of other new summer service between the U.S. and the U.K., with relatively low fares.

So what is Thomas Cook Airlines, how does it compare to other low-cost transatlantic airlines, and what does it have to do with Thomas Cook, the venerable U.K.-based travel agency group?

First, let’s look at its summer schedule. Besides twice-weekly (Thurs & Sun only) SFO-Manchester service starting May 14, the airline will start flying to Manchester from Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York JFK on May 1, with schedules ranging from three flights a week to daily, as well as Orlando-London Gatwick. On May 3, it adds Orlando-Manchester and Las Vegas-Glasgow, followed by Boston-Manchester May 16; Miami-Manchester June 15; Orlando-Belfast June 25; and Las Vegas-London Stansted August 3.

Premium economy on Thomas Cook Airlines

The carrier uses Airbus A330-200s widebodies on its U.S. routes, with economy and premium economy seating. To Manchester, it cites one-way fares of $279 economy/$419 premium from San Francisco, $279/$359 from Los Angeles and $249/$349 from JFK, for example.

And does that buy you nothing but a seat as on low fare carriers like Norwegian or WOW? Nope: “All tickets include a minimum of 50 pounds checked luggage and 13 pounds of cabin luggage, as well as meals. Inflight entertainment is available on seat-back screens, with a choice of free or paid-for content, featuring more than 30 movies and 50 TV shows,” a spokesman said. On airlines like Norwegian and WOW, those things cost extra for economy class travelers.

According to Seatguru.com, premium economy in Thomas Cook Airlines’ two-class A330-200s has 49 “recliner seats” (seven across) that are 19.7 inches wide, with 35-inch pitch; and 273 regular economy seats (eight across) that are 18.2 inches wide with 31-inch pitch (pretty much the industry standard for economy class these days).

Thomas Cook Group has five operating divisions across Europe; besides the airlines and the travel agency chain, it also has several tour operators and a hotel booking website. And it’s huge: The group has total sales of more than $10 billion and more than 21,000 employees.

The airline’s U.S. routes are largely seasonal. Its winter 2017/2018 schedule shows U.S. service only to New York JFK and Las Vegas from Manchester, and to Orlando from Manchester and London Gatwick.

With ultra-low-cost airlines like Norwegian and Iceland’s Wow wreaking havoc on transatlantic air fare competition, a similar battle could be coming to transpacific markets.

Malaysia-based AirAsia X said this week it has won a green light from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly to the U.S. – “the first Asian low-cost carrier to secure approval to operate scheduled passenger flights to the U.S.,” the company said.

However, the airline’s announcement did not include any specific destinations for the new service, nor did it suggest what kinds of fares it might charge. Like other low-cost carriers, AirAsia X offsets its bargain base fares with a variety of extra passenger fees for various amenities and services.

AirAsia X said it is “currently considering flights to several U.S. states including Hawaii as part of its route expansion plans.”

The carrier’s CEO, Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, called the decision “a major milestone” for AirAsia X. He added that the airline has also applied to U.K authorities to resume service to London.

AirAsia’s network covers 120 destinations. (Image: Air Asia)

AirAsia Group flies from its Kuala Lumpur base to more than 120 destinations in the Asia Pacific region, and it offers customers a mobile app, in-flight Wi-Fi, and an easy connecting service it calls Fly-Thru.

“Fly-Thru allows guests to seamlessly connect to anywhere within AirAsia’s wide network with just one stop at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Asia’s No. 1 low-cost carrier hub – and other convenient transit hubs in Thailand and Indonesia, without having to pass through immigration, and with their baggage checked through to the final destination,” AirAsia X said.

AirAsia X uses an all-Airbus wide-body fleet of A330 -300s, configured with 12 Premium Class flat-bed seats, and 365 economy seats in a 3-3-3 layout. Seatguru.com notes that the AirAsia X A330-300s have eight economy rows right behind the Premium cabin designated as a “quiet zone,” which cost extra. Why are those rows quiet? No kids under age 12 can sit there.

A new report finds that U.S. airlines remain way ahead of their foreign counterparts in the availability of in-flight Wi-Fi.

However, the Routehappy.com report also notes that the world’s airlines have quite a ways to go in offering what it calls the “best” Wi-Fi – i.e., “comparable to a home connection” in that it offers the highest speeds available and permits advanced media streaming.

“U.S. airlines continue to get closer to offering Wi-Fi on nearly every flight, a benefit of having started Wi-Fi rollouts earlier than airlines in most other regions,” Routehappy said. “Delta and United now have it installed on every single aircraft larger than 50-seat regional jets, while American is also closing in on this milestone. This is the result of multi-year installation programs, which are finally wrapping up.”

The company said that for U.S. airlines, 80 percent of available seat miles (ASMs) are now flown on Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft, compared with just 18.5 percent of ASMs on foreign airlines worldwide. (U.S. airlines that offer none at all include ultra-low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit, “which have no intention of rolling it out in the near future,” Routehappy said.)

In terms of quality, the company found that of equipped aircraft worldwide, only 7.2 percent offer the “best” product – an increase of just 1.2 points in the past year. Most aircraft (61 percent) provide what Routehappy calls “better” quality – i.e., capable of full web browsing and limited media streaming, while the rest have just basic service.

However, that should change fast. “While the overwhelming majority of flights operating with Best Wi-Fi today are found on JetBlue and some United flights, next-generation systems are now rapidly coming online, with major airline commitments announced more regularly than in prior years,” Routehappy said.

Source: Routehappy.com

“Gogo’s 2Ku system (i.e., an advanced satellite-based network) has recently launched with multiple major global airlines such as Delta, Aeromexico, and Virgin Atlantic. Inmarsat’s GX for Aviation is also in the beginning stages of going live to passengers. Deutsche Telekom’s high-speed air-to-ground network is being built throughout the European Union and UK, and British Airways will use this network starting in mid-2017; SAS and Finnair have also tapped Viasat for European Wi-Fi. All these systems are pending installation in thousands of aircraft. While equipment installation will take years to complete, by the end of 2017 flyers will see a big increase of Best Wi-Fi available to them.”

The deployment of these newer technologies means that in-fight Wi-Fi speed and quality “will dramatically improve” in the months and years ahead, the company said, and the cost to passengers should come down as well.

Looking just at long-haul flights – which Routehappy defines as more than 2,800 miles – the report says that only seven airlines now offer Wi-Fi on 100 percent of their flights: United, Delta, Iberia, Etihad, Icelandaor, Lufthansa and Singapore’s Scoot.

Many reasons to love Portland PDX Airport! But what about ATL, SFO, or… LGA? (Image: Port of Portland)

The nation’s favorite large airport, according to the poll of 39,000 North American travelers? It’s Portland International (PDX), for the second year in a row, scoring 786 on a 1,000-point scale.

In its 11th annual survey of traveler satisfaction with U.S. airports, J.D. Power and Associates found that customers are a little happier overall with the airport experience than they were last year – but the company suggests that may not last, as some facilities are embarking on huge construction projects that will impede passenger access.

Tampa came in second (775) and Las Vegas McCarran ranked third (759). The lowest satisfaction score among the 31 large airports in the study went to New York LaGuardia (649), just below Newark Liberty International (669). Also ranking in the bottom five were Philadelphia, Chicago O’Hare and Boston Logan.

The average score for the group was 724, and San Francisco International barely topped that at 725, while Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson rated 733. Los Angeles International was sixth from the bottom at 702.

Among medium-sized airports, the top three, in descending order, were Indianapolis, Buffalo and Ft. Myers/Southwest Florida. Cleveland Hopkins was dead last with a 704 score, just below Maui’s Kahului and Connecticut’s Bradley International, both at 724; and Oakland International, at 726. Ranking slightly above the median score of 760 were San Jose at 761 and Orange County/John Wayne at 765.

J.D. Power noted that the overall increase in the average satisfaction score — 731 this year vs. 725 in 2015 —came despite increased passenger traffic of 5 to 6 percent nationwide.

Construction of a new, grander LaGuardia Airport is causing headaches for travelers. (Image: New York Governor’s Office)

But the polling firm warns that passenger satisfaction could be damaged by big construction projects in the works at some major airports. “This heavy construction will make it more difficult for travelers to access the airport and, once there, it will likely make it even more difficult to navigate the crowded terminals,” the company said.

We’ve already seen evidence of problems like this at New York LaGuardia, which has started a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction. Other major infrastructure projects in the works include Los Angeles International and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. (In fact, J.D. Power noted that passenger satisfaction at ATL dropped nine points in the past year.)

Here are the complete listings:

In many cases, it’s more about the airport terminal than the airport overall. For example, the new TBIT International terminal at LAX is awesome, but the rest of the airport leaves a lot to be desired. And anyone who has flown Southwest via SFO’s slouchy (now under renovation) Terminal 1 should know that it’s a far cry from the world class Terminal 2 or United’s nice T3E boarding area. Same goes for JFK- some terminals (like Delta’s new T4) are nice, others not so much.

Readers, do you agree with J.D. Power’s poll results? Which airport do you consider the best or worst, and why?

Faster, easier re-entry to US via foreign pre-clearance facilities like this one in Dublin, Ireland (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified 10 overseas airports for expansion of the US Customs and Immigration Preclearance program. And now the department has named 11 more.

For travelers, this means that you’ll clear US customs and immigration at foreign airports, and your international flight back to the US will arrive like a domestic flight- you just get off and go home. These stations usually include Global Entry kiosks for faster processing. For business travelers, the primary downside is that once you pass through, it might be impossible to wait for your flight in an airport or business/first class lounge.

“Preclearance allows DHS to screen individuals prior to boarding a flight, which means we are able to identify threats long before they arrive in the United States,” said DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. “I look forward to the opportunity to grow our Preclearance operations in the Western Hemisphere, particularly into South America where CBP does not currently operate them.”

One of the next airports to get Preclearance will be Stockholm’s Arlanda. (Image: Swedavia)

Of the 10 airports selected last year for possible Preclearance locations, DHS said the U.S. has just signed an agreement with Sweden for a Preclearance facility at Stockholm Arlanda, which isn’t expected to open before 2019. DHS said it “continues to engage with many of the host governments” from the other locations, and “expects to announce additional agreements in the coming months.”

Most of the existing U.S. Preclearance stations are in Canada – at Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg. Other Preclearance facilities are at airports in Dublin, Shannon, Abu Dhabi, Aruba, Freeport and Nassau (Bahamas), and Bermuda.

Have you tried using Preclearance yet? How did that go for you? Please leave your comments below.

One Caribbean capital is about to experience what could be the biggest influx of new airline service from the U.S. of all times. In early July, the Transportation Department approved routes to Havana, Cuba for several U.S. airlines. Those route awards were finalized in late August, and airlines have started to announce their inaugural service dates for late fall and winter. Some are still subject to Cuban government approvals.

Alaska Airlines, which will have the only non-stop service to Havana from the West Coast, has set a January 5 start for its new Los Angeles-Havana flights, which will depart LAX at 8:50 a.m. The flight will originate in Seattle. Roundtrip fares from LAX start at $490.

Because the purpose of a traveler’s visit must fall within one of a dozen specific categories, and other formalities and requirements must be met, Alaska has posted a handy blog page with details for customers to know before they book their flight. Alaska said it is working with Cuba Travel Services to help customers obtain visas, accommodations and ground transportation at the destination.

Here is a link to the U.S. government’s official restrictions on travel to Cuba; scroll down to Page 10 to find specifics of the 12 categories of travel.

Nonstops to Havana from U.S. airlines. (Image: Great Circle Mapper)

Delta has targeted December 1 for the launch of daily flights to Havana from Miami and New York JFK along with one-stop service from Atlanta. For travel in February, we found roundtrip fares starting at $200 from Miami, $410 from JFK and $452 from Atlanta.

United Airlines has set a November 29 start for daily non-stops from Newark to Havana, followed on December 3 by weekly Saturday servicefrom Houston Bush Intercontinental to the Cuban capital. Fares in January start at $413 roundtrip from Newark and $513 from Houston.

November 30 is the target date for American Airlines’ new daily flight to Havana from its Charlotte hub. American was also awarded rights for four daily roundtrips from Miami, although it hasn’t yet announced a starting date for those. January roundtrip fares start at $421 from Charlotte.

Chris getting a shave in Cienfuegos, Cuba in May 2016

Frontier Airlines on December 1 is expected to start daily service from Miami to Havana, and will offer connections to that flight from Denver and Las Vegas.

Other new Havana routes expected to start in the next few months include JetBlue service from JFK, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando; Southwest Airlines flights from Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa; and Spirit Airlines from Ft. Lauderdale. Several airlines have already started or are about to launch service on routes to secondary cities and beach resorts in Cuba; those routes were awarded earlier.

It should just be a matter of months before you can book a commercial, scheduled flight Cuba, thanks to a new air services agreement signed on Tuesday.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was in Havana for the signing, after which the Transportation Department told U.S. carriers they can now apply for route authority to the island for both passenger and cargo flights, something they haven’t been able to offer for more than 50 years.

The pact will allow airlines from each country to operate up to 20 flights a day to Havana, as well as a maximum of 10 daily flights to each of Cuba’s other nine international airports, or a total of 110 flights a day to the island.

DOT said that as applications come in, it will begin a proceeding to select the routes that will be awarded to each airline– so it’s going to take some time.

Cruise lines are getting in the act, too. Carnival’s new Fathom “cultural exchange voyages” will depart Miami for a weeklong cruise around the island stopping in Havana, Cienfuegos and Santiago starting this May.

However, business travelers eager to explore commercial opportunities in Cuba and tourists who want to hit the beaches there should be aware that technically, not everyone can go there — at least, not until Congress reverses the trade embargo (unlikely any time soon) allowing the Treasury Department to ease up on current rules. DOT noted that the new air services pact will “facilitate visits for travelers that fall under one of the 12 categories authorized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets control.”

Image: US Dept of Transportation

According to Treasury’s website, those 12 categories include: family visits; official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments, and certain intergovernmental organizations; journalistic activity; professional research and professional meetings; educational activities; religious activities; public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; support for the Cuban people; humanitarian projects; activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes; exportation, importation, or transmission of information or information materials; and certain authorized export transactions.

But if a traveler just checks off one of those categories on a booking request, there’s no telling what kind of enforcement might apply, if any.

Some U.S. airlines have already been flying to Cuba for months, but only with charter flights sold by travel companies. After today’s announcement, nearly all US carriers have applauded the move and said that they plan to apply for authority to crank up scheduled commercial flight to Cuba from their hubs.

Ranking second in the download race was an airport you might not expect: Bill and Hilary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, with an average speed of 36.23 Mbps.

The list of the top 20 airports included several others in Thailand — Chiang Mai International (32.80 Mbps), Hat Yai International (32.08), Chiang Rai International (29.05), Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (27.11), Phuket International (20.11) and Samui International (18.97).

Kuala Lumpur International in Malaysia was third on the worldwide list, with average downloads of 34.54 Mbps, while Chattanooga, Tennessee‘s airport was fourth (34.19) and Houston Bush Intercontinental ranked sixth at 32.70.

Singapore Changi came in at 13th place with average downloads of 18.30 Mbps, followed by New York JFK at 17.96, Rotten WiFi said. The only European airport to crack the top 10 was Tallinn, Estonia in tenth place (23.96). Munich and Frankfurt finished 18th and 19th respectively (14.08 and 13.75).

Here’s a graphic of the global results:

Image: RottenWiFi.com

Readers: Which airport in your experience has the best Wi-Fi service? Post comments below.

Editor Chris McGinnis

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